Great shot and ship.Swan Hunter built 1972 wit 5 sisters:CORABANK-CLYDEBANK_FORTHBANK-MEADOWBANK and MORAYBANK.
Gp

Jeff Egan

27th September 2005, 18:46

Was the Roachbank built at Sunderland I sailed from the Tyne with her 21st December 1978 on sea trials but did not return to the Tyne, she may have been a Sunderland ship in the Tyne for a drydock before hand over.

John Rogers

27th September 2005, 21:08

I was on the first Moraybank 1948 ,another good ship and voyage.
John.

Stephen Swinhoe

28th September 2005, 23:34

Jeff,
Roachbank was built at the Deptford Shipyard(Laings)Sunderland ,she was ship No905 and I have her as being launched on 25.5.78.

Pat McCardle

29th September 2005, 08:48

Jeff,
Roachbank was built at the Deptford Shipyard(Laings)Sunderland ,she was ship No905 and I have her as being launched on 25.5.78.

Was she not built at Doxford's? Most of Bank Line vessels, from the 70's, were built there.

Jeff Egan

29th September 2005, 13:20

when we sailed from the Tyne on 21st December 1978 it must have been her final trial before hand over. she must have Drydocked on the Tyne, we did an all day trial, Compass adjusted and calibrated the D/F. I think we then returned to thw Wear that same day as I was on another ship out of the Tyne on the 22nd.

sam2182sw

29th September 2005, 16:05

i have a photo of her leaving HULLon her last trip before going to her new owners making one trip and then on to the scrap yard sad to see her go after doing so meany repairs on her over her 25 years of trading to HULL after round the world trips.
sam

Stephen Swinhoe

29th September 2005, 20:21

Pat,

Roachbank was one of three 'fish' class Bank Line ships built at Deptford,the other two were Ruddbank and Troutbank,three others were built at Pallion(Doxfords).

Jeff Egan

29th September 2005, 20:31

The funny thing about being the Pilot on a brand new Bank line ship in 1978 was that when I finished my apprenticeship on the Tyne in 1968 I had to find a company that would employ me as third mate without a ticket, I needed 18 months sea time before I could take my ticket. I wrote to Bank line because I wanted to get out to New Zealand but they wrote back "It is not our custom to employ uncertificated third mates." 10 years later I was stood on the bridge of their newest vessel.

R58484956

30th September 2005, 15:18

Jeff you were lucky that they did not employ you,Bank Line were B***** awful.

Jeff Egan

30th September 2005, 16:05

Common Brothers took me on, They used to say Common by name common by nature, but they always treated me OK, so I have no regrets, I wanted to get out to NZ as I had plenty of kin out there, I did make it but not till 2002 on holiday.

R58484956

30th September 2005, 16:22

Went to Invercargill on holiday a few years back, signed in at a bed and breakfast place and the land lord said " I know exactly where you live on a staggered Xroads"
his brother was my next door neighbour 2 miles up the road. Small world.

pete

30th September 2005, 20:40

Jeff you were lucky that they did not employ you,Bank Line were B***** awful.

Sorry shipmate but I sailed with them for 15/16 years and genuinely enjoyed my time with them. Oh Well, Horses for courses I guess..............pete

sam2182sw

1st October 2005, 17:44

well done JEFF that the way to tell them. the name is sam i live in HULL had my own ship repair yard in HULL and used to repair the bank boats. still in touch with the super that looked after them. as i say JEFF that the way to tell them
SAM

Les Hughes

2nd October 2005, 06:17

On about Invercargill, I had all my wisdom teeth pulled there in '73. Wonder if they are still around.

R58484956

2nd October 2005, 13:28

Yes tripped over them on the front door mat.

pete

3rd October 2005, 07:42

Oh Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Dear. Why do people who have NOT sailed with Bank Line get so fraught about their vessels and conditions on board.............pete

WLH

3rd October 2005, 20:29

ZIMBA, did anyone come across this little ship used by Lord Inverforth as a quiet place to hold board meetings, usually based Southampton, ?

JOHNKITTO

20th October 2005, 22:36

I served as a Deck Officer cadet (Bilge Diver) for four years from 1966 to 1970. I served on the Pinebank, Sprucebank (copra run) Streambank, Rowanbank(another Copra boat) & Forresbank(would you believe another Copra boat) I can honestly say they were the best and most memorable days of my life. It was hard work sometimes but if I had my time again I would do it again.

mwebster56

21st October 2005, 10:29

I am in full agreement with Pete. I worked for Bank Line for over 4 years and as JohnKitto said, if I had my time over I would do it again. When I left the MN I worked with an ex marine engineer who offered me his commiserations when he found out who I had sailed with. He had worked all his sea going life for Harrison Line doing the same run over and over again, he had never been on a Bank boat. As the saying goes, don't knock it till youve tried it.

JOHNKITTO

25th October 2005, 12:40

I believe that Bank Line was the best learning environment a Cadet could wish for. You experienced almost every cargo on the planet. Bulk, general, liquids etc. I went to sea before containerisation and UBCs. We carried everything! Have you ever fought with your fellow Cadets over taking temperatures and ullages at the end of the working day so that you could clean your hands with Coconut oil? I have a lot of fond memories of my time with Bank Line, they are still there after nearly forty years.

John Rogers

25th October 2005, 19:47

My memories are of Tonga,Fiji,Samoa,and the Moraybank that took me there in 1948.
John

cynter

28th October 2005, 01:06

Hi Pete... I fully agree with you mate. I spent two great years with the Tielbank (she was a Samboat... ex Samburgh) and we tramped around the world and had a bloody good time. I was a Marconi sparks and not a Bank Line man but was accepted as a brother !! I joined her in Corpus Christi, Tx Aug/56 and left her in Houston, Tx Sept/58. As a sparks, I was albe to keep in touch with any other Bankboats around... and we had some great rendez-vous. We never made the UK in two years... so, I never experienced the "channels" when leaving her... unlike lots of other ships.!!
All the best to you... Cheers, Terry Glover (retired in Aussie now)

mwebster56

31st October 2005, 15:08

JOHNKITTO
I see you sailed on the Sprucebank. I remember doing a copra run on her in 74/75. When we got back to Liverpool the Super congratulated us on being the first engineering crew for ages that had got back from New Guinea to the UK without at least one stoppage at sea. In truth this was more good luck than good management as we had quite a few stoppages outward bound from New Orleans to Sydney. Have you any similar memories of this? maybe you enjoyed the fishing while the engineers were sweating their bits off to get the bloody thing going again.
We had a great voyage though, would do it all again if I had the chance.
Mike

JOHNKITTO

2nd November 2005, 19:20

I joined her in Liverpool in March 1967, we took her round Europe unloading the usual stuff. All the coconut oil was discharged at Lever Bros in Liverpool, then we went to Rotterdam, Hamburg & Hull discharging the copra, cocoa beans etc. and Then went back round Europe loading for Central America, (Venzuala Colombia etc) We had one (of many) incidents going into the Locks of the Noord Sea canal on our way up to Amsterdam when the engines refused to go astern and we crashed through the lock gates. Fortunately they were opening at the time and damaged was limited. After we had unloaded in Central America we proceed to the Gulf of Mexico to load all and sundry for Aussie. We must have been fated with regard to canals and locks as after many breakdowns up to and through Panama, we had Doxford Engineers fly out with crates full of piston rings which were all changed before we ventured across the Pacific. Does any body remember the new jetty they built at Kavieng? Well it was us that split it in half when the engines refused to go astern yet again. The concrete had not had time to harden. I went to Kavieng a couple of years later and Bank Line crews were banned from going ashore even then! I am sure we didn't get an award from the Super for that trip, and I dont remember getting much of an opportunity to fish, but like you, if Bank Line was desperate enough to send for me I would drop everything and go.

mwebster56

4th November 2005, 15:23

That is very intertesting. On the trip I mentioned, we were leaving Noumea and I was driving the engine. As they pulled us away from the wharf we were asked for slow astern but whatever I did I could not get the swine to do this. They were getting more and more agitated on the bridge and the phone was going mad. When we finally got some way from the jetty I got it going by giving it a quick flip forward and then starting it up astern which worked. I didnt know there was a history of this happening and as far as I know, neither did anyone else on board. God knows what it must have felt like approaching the lock gates or the jetty at Kavieng under these circumstances.

DCMARINE

12th December 2005, 16:32

Hi John,
I am carrying out research into family history and trying to get some info on Capt Donald Campbell who spent all his seagoing career with Bank Line. In October 2004 I had a letter in "Seabreezes" requesting info and received much appreciated replies from a few that had sailed with him. Have just found this site and thought it might generate more info.
Info I have so far:
Donald was born in Harris in 1910 but moved to Skye after he married.
He passed 2nd Mates in 1934, Mates in 1937, and Masters in 1940. He was promoted to Master on the "Marabank" in 1948, and sailed on the "Westbank" (1958), Wavebank (1960/62), and "Beaverbank" (1964/65).
On his last voyage, to Australia / NewZealand, Donald was unwell but took his ship home. He died shortly thereafter in 1971.
Any further info will be much appreciated by his family.
Regards,
Donald Campbell

Harry Nicholson

12th December 2005, 17:19

They were getting more and more agitated on the bridge and the phone was going mad. When we finally got some way from the jetty I got it going by giving it a quick flip forward and then starting it up astern which worked. I didnt know there was a history of this happening and as far as I know, neither did anyone else on board. God knows what it must have felt like approaching the lock gates or the jetty at Kavieng under these circumstances.

That rings a bell (awful pun). I was not engine room but was r/o on a collier in 1956 (the "Corburn") we were coming into Barry Docks and as I had finished my job I was looking over the side at the proceedings. We were coming up to the closed lock gates and there was a panic on, she was not answering to "go astern". The pilot stopped her (and saved the lock gates) by sliding her along side the jetty and using that as a brake. I watched as the timbers of the jetty snapped like matchsticks, one after the other.
Some years later I worked in the technical areas of ITN news studio in London and a Welsh chap joined our team. It transpired that he had been on the jetty at Barry showing his little daughter the ships when the "Corburn" graunched along it, he said they had "run for their lives".

This is beside the point but the same chap had begun life as an apprentice at the Barry trollybus depot. He had an uncontrollable urge to drive a trolley bus and one day took one for a run out, got into a mess with it and abandoned it off its wires and stuck the middle of a roundabout; he was sacked.

I hope you chaps don't mind this on your Bank Line place. I used to watch you go by and wonder which exotic place you were off to when all that faced me was the sweats of Calcutta.

JOHNKITTO

18th December 2005, 11:53

Hi, You mentioned the "sweats" of Calcutta. My first shipwas the PINEBANK. I left home at 16 never having ventured further than Hull, and 4 months later we spent four weeks at anchor at Sandheads(?) off Calcutta then a further four weeks tied up in the river Hoogley, until the boar tides came. We had done all the usual moorings and the night of the big boar came. The Greek Liberty ship down river from us broke adrift and we smashed up. The anchor cables that we had secured round the after deckbollards tore thos bollards out of the deck and we spent three weeks at Garden reach workshops sorting the mess out. At that time only the latest ships had aircon so we spent 3 months in that part of the world during the high humidity monsoon season.

mwebster56

19th December 2005, 16:56

John
It said in one of the Bank Line magazines that I had, that a pilot who was once taking her alongside commented that Pinebank meant 'the rack' in Flemish. Don't know whether it is true.

ruud

19th December 2005, 17:13

Ahoy,

pijnbank (de) pronounced as Pinebank
n. rack

•
rack

ww.folteren; afpijnigen

zn.rek; pijnbank; foltering

mwebster56

21st December 2005, 14:58

Thanks Ruud.If you were stuck in Calcutta for months without AC it would certainly live up to its name.
Mike

soapy

31st January 2006, 19:22

hello john
what a surprise,haven't been on this site for a while, viewing last night saw your post.
this is keith critchley. do you remember we sailed together on the streambank,
what a trip that was.

JOHNKITTO

1st February 2006, 21:53

Hi Mush! How are things? Did you ever get rid of "The Flange"?

JOHNKITTO

1st February 2006, 21:58

Old Man, Peter Simpson, lives here in Scarborough but not a well man. Sparky, Big Clive Five foot sixteen he was. He still lives in Scarborough. See them both regularly though.

Hamish Mackintosh

2nd February 2006, 05:31

IVYBANK off Flushing, 1983

http://home.hetnet.nl/~eugene2/MAP2/ivybank4.jpg

regards

CVB
I need one of the IVYBANK circa 1950 ,Sam boat, ex Sam Yorke, I believe Great happy ship ,spent two years on her in the South Pacific.running phosphate tp Ozz and New Zealand

soapy

3rd February 2006, 00:30

hi john
funny the things you remember, yes i lost the flange somewhere.
talking of clive i still have a photo of you, jock, clive, myself taken on the
monkey island whilst we were bunkering in the cape verde islands
wonder who took the photo ?

JOHNKITTO

3rd February 2006, 20:52

Hi Keith, I thought that Photo was taken by Harry Barnes. I have a copy of it somewhere too.
Did you stay on with Bank Line, how is life treating you now? Do you still live in the Blackburn area?

When I left the Streambank in Townsville I was 6 weeks in Hospital. 6 weeks in a Hospital on the Great Barrier Reef. I came home on the Forresbank (A copra boat).

johnmilne

4th March 2006, 02:01

hello john
what a surprise,haven't been on this site for a while, viewing last night saw your post.
this is keith critchley. do you remember we sailed together on the streambank,
what a trip that was.
Two birds with one stone, John Kitto and Keith Critchley I sailed with you both on Streambank if only for 6weeks from Houston to NZ. I had just finished my time and was going back to NZ. Sorry to hear about Peter Simpson he was I think the first of the new "old men"with a different way of thinking. Inspection during the week and not Sunday.

soapy

12th March 2006, 18:12

hello john.
sorry mate ,memory not what it was ,can't put a face to the name,
any more details would be welcome.
regards keith

johnmilne

13th March 2006, 02:06

hello john.
sorry mate ,memory not what it was ,can't put a face to the name,
any more details would be welcome.
regards keith
Hello Keith, Iwas in the same cabin as you I paid off the Lindenbank in Houston as she was going to Aussie.I know that your fellow apprentice was displaced to Lindenbank sothat I could Join. Did you stay with Bank Line long?
After getting second mates I joined USSCO LTD. Only for 9months Too long!
Then went on NZ coast on Golden Bay Cement Company carriers.Then did home tade masters, thence ashore to the NewPlymouth dredge Ngamotu. Left her as Dredgemaster and went to Napier as Tugmaster for 14years.
Came redundant in my marriage in 1987.iN 1992 i came over to Aussie to Mackay had a stroke in 1999. moved down to Brisbane at the end of 2001.Now a Aussie citizen.
Cheers John

soapy

19th March 2006, 17:00

hi john.
i must be suffering from selective memory loss!
i still can't recall those few weeks, i have no photo's to fall back on, so hope you won't
be offended if i ask you to give a brief description of yourself.
i stayed with bank line until 1976, then two other companies coming ashore in 1978.
at present driving a van for a living.
i think we were all lucky to sail when we did, before the"boxboats" ruined everything!
regards keith.

Hamish Mackintosh

25th March 2006, 17:54

I need one of the IVYBANK circa 1950 ,Sam boat, ex Sam Yorke, I believe Great happy ship ,spent two years on her in the South Pacific.running phosphate tp Ozz and New Zealand
That picture won't download for me?But I don't think It would be the one I was on as most Sam boats had gone to the wreckers by then .Thanks anyway

capkelly

25th March 2006, 21:39

Anyone got a photo of the "Wavebank" of '58? I was Captain of her as the "Newtide" Pakastini owners in late 70's. An interesting trip but a fine strong vessel

Cavill

1st April 2006, 15:07

I dont think Bank Line was B***** awful. I had 14 good years with them 1977 to 1991 starting as Junior Engineer and leaving as 3rd Lots of fond memories....

david harrod

20th April 2006, 15:29

Was the Roachbank built at Sunderland I sailed from the Tyne with her 21st December 1978 on sea trials but did not return to the Tyne, she may have been a Sunderland ship in the Tyne for a drydock before hand over.
Roachbank was the first of the fish class (I stood by the building), she was built at pallion in the covered yard. The reason she was inn the Tyne was that the engines, the latest Doxford J type developed a design fault in the upper piston and she was laid up in the Tyne while the piston was redesigned and manufactured; there was no room in Sunderland because once the tops of the masts and the funnel were on, she couldn't get back under the bridge. The original crew were sent to another ship because of the delay... I can't remember who they all were, but I think Dai Davies was Master. I took the Pikebank (the second ship) out as Mate, we were delayed until March '79 and I was in Sunderalnd for the launch or float out of all of them...the best ships Bank Line ever built.

david harrod

20th April 2006, 15:52

Was she not built at Doxford's? Most of Bank Line vessels, from the 70's, were built there.
Stephen is right (and my previous post on this is slightly wrong); Laings yard at Deptford was also a Doxford yard, the Roach, Rudd and Trout were built there, the Pike, Tench and Dace were all built at Pallion in the covered dock; I went there in September '78 to standby the Pike, but due to the engine problem, I ended up staying in the yard until we sailed the Pike, in March '79 I think; my last ship after 15 years cadet to mate with the great and glorious....

david harrod

20th April 2006, 15:58

That is very intertesting. On the trip I mentioned, we were leaving Noumea and I was driving the engine. As they pulled us away from the wharf we were asked for slow astern but whatever I did I could not get the swine to do this. They were getting more and more agitated on the bridge and the phone was going mad. When we finally got some way from the jetty I got it going by giving it a quick flip forward and then starting it up astern which worked. I didnt know there was a history of this happening and as far as I know, neither did anyone else on board. God knows what it must have felt like approaching the lock gates or the jetty at Kavieng under these circumstances.
I had her as Mate in'73 and she was a pig; never would go astern; never would start...joined in Durban for west coast south america; by the time we got to new orleans to load for sydney, the engineers had had enough and walked off; we got a new lot and limped our way to Sydney; I left her in Rabaul loading for the continent and the uk...good riddance; even the old Firbank wasn't that bad...

robparsons101

5th July 2006, 18:35

I sailed on Lossiebank, Streambank, Moraybank, Corabank, Fleetbank, Forthbank, Meadowbank From 78 to 83 They were not the best but had character

Andy Lavies

8th July 2006, 17:16

I had nearly eleven years with Bank Line from 1956 and enjoyed it all. A huge adventure for a 15 year old.
Andy Lavies

John King

23rd April 2007, 12:45

hi all you bankers im looking for anyone who can me any info on a lecky called billy tailor from whitlybay north tyneside,he sailed with them in 60,s and maybe 70,s.we served our times together. regards john king

ernhelenbarrett

27th August 2007, 07:56

Was sparks on the tweedbank/GBYC in1957, she was built about 1935 and couldnt get much above 10 knots with a following typhoon, the "Old man" was owen owens from Phywilli (?) in Welsh Wales and we had a varied trip, Liverpool to Cuba, sugar to New Orleans, up the US East Coast Savannah , Newport News, back down to Galveston , Lake Charles ,Beaumont then down
to Coatzacolcos in Mexico to load sulphur then Panama to Bluff, Brisbane, Sydney,Melbourne, Adelaide, Port Moresby, Samarai and Rabaul (yep Copra)
Miri in Borneo, Colombo to change crews, the Butler left the vessel complete with all the grub!! thence Birkenhead and Glasgow where I signed off. She was a bit of a wreck but happy none the less. Was on a SSA vessel the Alaric
a couple of years later when I had a QSO with her, she was then on the East Africa- Japan run and the poor Aussie Chief Engineer we picked up in Brisbane
was still on her!! I heard later she caught fire and was a total wreck somewhere off Japan
Salaams Ern Barrett

andy huber

2nd February 2008, 21:50

John

I am pretty sure i sailed with Bill on my first ship in Bank Line (Shirrabank) Jan 70. If my memory is right he only did a couple of months then paid off.

Riptide

2nd February 2008, 22:18

Did any of you Gentlemen who sailed with bank line, sail with a Chief Engineer called Mr. Boyd & his son Jimmy Boyd, 2nd Engineer.Both sailed together on the Beaverbank.
Kenny.

IBlenkinsopp

15th October 2009, 17:52

Roachbank was the first of the fish class (I stood by the building), she was built at pallion in the covered yard. The reason she was inn the Tyne was that the engines, the latest Doxford J type developed a design fault in the upper piston and she was laid up in the Tyne while the piston was redesigned and manufactured; there was no room in Sunderland because once the tops of the masts and the funnel were on, she couldn't get back under the bridge. The original crew were sent to another ship because of the delay... I can't remember who they all were, but I think Dai Davies was Master. I took the Pikebank (the second ship) out as Mate, we were delayed until March '79 and I was in Sunderalnd for the launch or float out of all of them...the best ships Bank Line ever built.

Took cine of Roachbank leaving Wear Dec 1978 on trials I think, stoodby her for a while and then sent to Fiji just before Xmas to join Cloverbank (Capt Harry Taylor) Wot larks!!
Eddie Bl.